Destiny

       When I was a child my life was just like living as a prince. The reason I lived like a prince was because of the Reform and Open Policy. My family were like the majority of China and living in a bad condition before the policy came out. Deng Xiaoping who is the president of China carried out the Reform and Open policy at the 1970s. The policy gave chances to some cities and the people who lived in these cities to do whatever they want to do at that time. China was a closed society country before this policy came out. All the Chinese citizens needed to follow the instruction made by the Party to earn a living. However, this policy made the people in China do everything freely. My grandmother was one of the lucky people who became rich and improved the living standards of the family by the hard work she did. Accordingly, what she did has changed the route of my family; moreover, it let me have a chance to study abroad.

My grandmother founded a toy-making factory in the 1990s, and she made a lot of money with the business. At the beginning, my grandmother was just a worker in a small toy-making factory when the policy was carried out. Although she worked so hard to support her family, what she earned was never enough to support the family to live comfortably. Also, all the goods and products were expensive to them, so they lived in a small house, and could just eat some meat during the New Year. Therefore, she decided to set up her own business and tried to earn much more money for a better life. At first, she saved a small amount of money by just eat buns for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every month, and she borrowed some money from her parents. After that, she used that money to set up a toy-making factory by herself. The factory would make toys and export to other countries. Every day and night, my grandmother stayed in the factory to make the toys with her workers. What’s more, the price she set was low. As a result, some developed area companies bought my grandmother’s product without thinking. This was the first time my grandmother made money with her business. Although the profit she made was low at first, the quality of her products was good. Thus, more and more companies wanted to keep buying the products again. Accordingly, our family used the money made by my grandmother to start improving their living conditions.

As time went by, my grandmother became richer than before. In addition, she started to think about the future of our family and me. Because of the policy, people could immigrate overseas at that time. Therefore, she decided to immigrate to the U.S. after making enough money for her business. This important decision influenced the future of my family and me. At first, she thought about which location would be good to settle down. At last, the place she decided to move was Chicago. The reason she wanted to choose Chicago was because all her sisters were living there, and she can spend her rest of the life near her family. Moreover, she sold the factory to a businessman who was interested in my grandmother’s factory. Therefore, she had enough money to start a new life in Chicago. In 2003, she moved to Chicago. In addition, the other reason she chose this city was because she knew the education in Chicago was good. She hoped I could study in Chicago and have a better job in the future. She didn’t want me to have to work so hard like her to earn a living. After moving to Chicago, my grandmother decided to reopen the business to make money. Although she hoped she could do this one more time, she was too old to work so hard again. Therefore, she decided to save the money for her family, in order we could live well after moving in this new country.

Seven years later, she passed the immigrating exam and became a U.S. citizen. She decided to apply us to move to Chicago. Three years later, my family and I moved to Chicago. However, her hard work throughout her life and the age made her health deteriorate. Few months later, she passed away. My family and I felt sad after she passed away. What she did was for the family and me, I am deeply moved every time when I think about the things she did for us. I love my grandmother so much, but I can’t tell her any more, and I regret that I never told her before. My grandmother was unusual for a woman of her generation to work so hard and make a huge success.

My grandmother did series of things that influenced my family, and even changed her life. Through her hard work, she became the boss of a factory and moved to other country to spend her rest of the life. She changed her destiny by her hard work. Because of the Reform and Open Policy, many people in China made a lot of money. There are many stories about these people. They are creating or following their own destinies. And now, I know it’s time for me to write down the history which will change my destiny in the future